Comfort
by james-t-kirktacular
Summary: Leonard knew that Jim was sick. He also knew that Jim was avoiding him because he was sick. He /also/ knew what to do to make Jim feel better. Warnings inside; non-sexual infantilism


**Any warnings in case you are unaware:** this story features **infantilism**, which means grown adult/s acting like infants. Jim and Spock are the ones who are the "infants" in this scenario, and Bones is their "daddy". Because of this, they do and should seem highly out of character, and have no emotional boundaries. Bones bathes and diapers Jim, and feeds them both via bottle. It is purely **non-sexual**. If this criteria does not meet your expectations, it would be better to leave now than get your hopes up.

Otherwise, enjoy.

—

Leonard knew that Jim was sick. He also knew that Jim was avoiding him because he was sick. Spock was very observant and very loyal to the doctor when it concerned his captain and said blond idiot's well-being. The fact that Jim had gotten sick wasn't surprising; the kid's immune system was shot to hell, and him picking up some kind of ailment or another was more likely than with anyone else onboard. It was also not surprising that he was refusing to seek treatment, since his self-preservation skills were minimal at best and nonexistent at worst.

It also, apparently, meant that he'd forgotten about their session together that night. If Jim was sick enough to not come to their session when they had all strictly agreed on the times and dates and he always waited for them with bated breath, then whatever he had was really dragging him down.

"Stay here, pumpkin. I'm gonna go get Jimmy, and then I'm gonna give you both your bottles, okay? You hungry, baby?"

Spock, from where he sat curled up in front of the holo-television in a bundle of blankets, teddy sehlat (fondly named Commander Cookie) hugged to his chest and pacifier in his mouth, nodded happily. The television was playing some old Terran cartoons - something called 'Looney Toons' - and they usually kept Spock and Jim occupied while Leonard buzzed about in the First Officer's quarters. They would have been doing the sessions in Leonard's cabin, but the First Officer's was connected to the Captain's via bathroom. It made it much easier to bring Jim over when he was being particularly stubborn.

Like right now.

"I'll be right back, honey," Leonard said, bending down to press a kiss to Spock's forehead and smiling when the Vulcan squirmed with delight at the touch. These sessions were the only time Spock ever felt safe enough to let his emotions shine through the normally stoic exterior, and the only time Jim would allow the stresses of being Starfleet's poster boy and youngest flagship captain to peel away and relax and be happy. Jim was hardly ever genuinely happy anymore - hasn't been since the Academy, really - and to have these sessions and make sure that Jim and Spock were actually sincerely loved and cared for was something Leonard knew they both needed. It was the entire reason they had these sessions, why it was so strange and out of character for Jim not to show up.

Well, Leonard was nothing if not persistent, so he gathered up Jim's favorite blanket (the fluffy pale blue one), his onesie (the dark blue one dotted with planets and stars), his teddy bear (the one in full regulation Federation dress uniform fondly referred to as Commodore Cupcake), and a tricorder before heading past the bathroom into the captain's quarters.

The first thing he noticed was the silence, only broken by the wheezing breaths and soft coughs that came from the direction of Jim's bed and the quiet rumbles of the ship. All the lights were turned off, and the temperature was on high, making beads of perspiration spring up on his skin as he made his way to the sleeping area in search of his missing captain.

Not so missing anymore, though, because when he approached the bed he could see said missing captain spread eagle under the sheets in the center of the mattress, shivering pitifully, whimpers escaping his throat. Leonard felt his chest constrict at the sight, and let out a quiet, "Oh, Jim" before bringing the tricorder up and running it over him. The results that popped up on the screen showed that Jim was suffering through a rather rough bout of hoof-in-mouth, and it made Leonard sigh, both in relief and disappointment. He was relieved that Jim hadn't contracted something too serious, and that he had the cure and the vaccine on hand, one he knew had nothing Jim was allergic to in it, but he was also disappointed that Jim hadn't come to him sooner. If he'd come to him yesterday, even this morning, he wouldn't even be in this situation now, with white cysts in his esophagus and body aches to high heaven.

Luckily, the cure would have him up and about in two days, even less if he was lucky, and he had a spare hypo in Spock's quarters in their emergency pack to take care of his sore throat and aching muscles by the end of the night. It didn't hurt that he also had two vaccine cartridges, one for himself and one for Spock, so they wouldn't catch it and be down for the few days it would take for it to be out of their system. Having one bedridden commanding officer was bad enough; having three would start a ship-wide disaster.

But first…

He bent down, setting the tricorder aside and folding the sheets away from the blond. The response was immediate; Jim's face contorted with pain, and a whine drew itself out of him as consciousness crept back into his mind, blinking slowly and gazing up at Leonard with a dazed look of confusion.

"Hey, sweetheart," Leonard whispered, keeping his voice low in case he was suffering through a migraine to go with his illness. He gently cupped his cheek, feeling his overheated skin and rubbing his thumb against the dried tear tracks on his face. "How're you feeling? Not good?"

Jim's bottom lip quivered, and he nodded his head shakily in agreement, tears welling up in his already reddened eyes once more. Leonard felt his heart crumple at the sight, and he leant down to press a kiss to his brow before gathering him up in his arms as gently as possible, an arm under his knees and around his upper back, listening to the whimpers and sobs that got caught in Jim's throat with a frown. "Don't worry, honey, I got'cha," he murmured, "I'm gonna give you a nice warm bath and make sure you're all comfy, then I'm gonna bring you back over to Spock's room and give you some medicine, and then I'm gonna give you some warm milk and read you a story. How's that sound, baby?"

Jim nodded against his chest, hiding his face and stifling his sniffles in the fabric of his shirt. When they got to the bathroom, Leonard was careful to sit Jim on the toilet seat as gently as possible before setting his blanket, pajamas, and teddy on the sink counter out of the way with the tricorder. He heard Jim whine, and saw him reaching for his teddy bear, eyes glassy with unshed tears, but Leonard returned to him soon enough, taking hold of his hands and lowering them to his lap. "Not yet, baby; you don't want Commodore Cupcake getting all wet, do you?" Jim looked conflicted, but ultimately gave a small head shake of agreement, wincing with pain when he did. Yeah, he definitely had a migraine.

Leonard gingerly removed Jim's clothes, whispering apologies when the blond would whimper as his aching muscles were jostled and peppering kisses to the exposed skin. Soon enough he was naked, shivering against the cold air before Leonard picked him back up, placed him in the tub and turned on the faucet, making sure the water would be warm enough to soothe his skin instead of burn it. Jim gradually began relaxing as the temperature worked its way into his aching joints, chasing away at the very least some of the soreness, and he squirmed when Leonard cupped a handful of the water to pour over his hair. He eventually lathered some shampoo into the sopping yellow locks, massaging his scalp and temples and smiling when Jim began drooping under his ministrations.

When the rest of him had been thoroughly washed, his skin flushed pink and smelling of peaches, all the way from his head to his toes, Leonard emptied the bath and helped Jim to his feet and out of the tub. It was clear he was still in pain, if the way he was wincing at every movement was anything to go by, but Leonard would fix that shortly. Right now, he needed to get him dry and into his pajamas so he could give him his bottle and medication and let him sleep.

He dried him off quickly with the thickest, fluffiest, warmest towel they had, careful not to jostle him or make the pain any worse. Jim was beginning to sway where he stood, a combination of exhaustion and the safety and security of being pampered. Before he could fall over, Leonard hefted him back up into his arms to deposit him on the sink counter. It was big enough that Jim's upper body could lean back without much hindrance, which he did as soon as he was settled, sucking his thumb into his mouth, eyes half-lidded with fatigue, squirming delicately, his legs jerking with subconscious movements. They remained spread around Leonard's waist, though, which was good.

He reached below him into the cabinet under the sink and retrieved a diaper and some baby powder, easily lifting Jim's wriggling hips to place the diaper under him and set him back on the crinkling fabric. He had to move just so to get Jim's legs high enough in front of him and apply the baby powder to his rear end and upper thighs, letting his legs fall back around his waist when Jim started squirming in earnest to apply it to his front and everything in between, sure to be careful with the over-sensitive flesh. Once that was taken care of, he brushed the excess powder from his hands into the sink and pulled the diaper up and around his pelvis, securing it with the tape it came with and bending down to blow a raspberry into his belly button, making Jim jump and let out a delighted squeal.

After that, it was a simple matter of wrestling the squirming blond into his onesie and giving him his teddy bear, which he curled around as soon as it was in reach, nuzzling his face into the artificial fur. Leonard picked up his blanket and tucked it around his shoulders, making sure he was nice and warm before gathering him into his arms, letting him wrap his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck as they exited the bathroom back into Spock's cabin. The Vulcan was still sitting in front of the television in his bundle of blankets with a look of awe on his face, completely enraptured in the cartoons, sucking contentedly on his pacifier and cradling Commander Cookie in his lap. He looked up curiously when they reentered the cabin, but aside from that showed no interest, because he turned right back to the cartoons, utterly fascinated.

Leonard shook his head fondly before moving over to the small kitchen nook and sitting Jim on the counter to punch the right code into the replicator, making sure it would produce two bottles instead of one. Jim hid his face in Commodore Cupcake's fur while Leonard moved over to the nearby med-kit, retrieving the correct hypos and emptying one of them into his own neck before returning to Jim's side. He combed his fingers through Jim's still damp blond hair, tickling the soft curls at the base of his skull and pressing his fingertips against the coiled tendons he found there with enough pressure to make the tension that had piled up over the day release. It made Jim sag with relief and let out a whine, which Leonard responded to by pressing soft kisses to his hairline, his forehead, his temples, his brows, his cheeks, until the two bottles of warm milk appeared on the replicator platform. The doctor picked one of them up, unscrewing the lid and depositing the medicine into it before screwing it back on and tapping Jim's chin, making him raise his head to show it to him.

Jim looked doubtful, like he didn't want it, but Leonard knew he was hungry despite the cysts in his throat, and it was only a matter of time until he latched onto the bottle and suckled with earnest, gulping the warm fluid down as if he hadn't eaten all day - and knowing him, he probably hadn't. He held his bottle up for him until all of the milk was gone, and then leant forward to let Jim rest his cheek on his shoulder and pat his back until he burped. He pulled back and smoothed down his hair, smiling softly and offering him a quiet, "Good boy, Jimmy," making him squirm happily from where he sat on the counter and hide his flushing face back in his teddy bear.

Leonard unscrewed the second bottle and deposited the Vulcan vaccine into the fluid inside before calling for said Vulcan; "Spock," he said, which brought his attention away from the cartoons and to him instead. His eyes were wide and expressive in the way they never were outside of these walls, gleaming with happiness and curiosity that made Leonard smile. He waved for him to come over, showing him the other bottle, and said, "C'mon, honey, d'you want your milk?"

That made Spock wriggle to his feet, Commander Cookie held tightly to his chest and blankets still wrapped around him like a shroud as he toddled over on wobbly legs, the sheets nearly covering the sight of his own onesie in the process (of which was dotted with little rockets and space ships, something Leonard found almost unbearably adorable). He reached for the bottle as soon as he was within reach, using one hand to cradle Commander Cookie in his arm and the other to flex his fingers towards the milk, bouncing on his toes with excitement. Leonard had to remove his pacifier to give it to him, but he didn't seem to mind much if at all, because he latched onto the bottle immediately as Leonard held it up and fed him, suckling and slowly closing his eyes as his stomach was filled. Eventually, the bottle was emptied, and after burping Spock too he returned the pacifier to his mouth and picked Jim back up, grabbing Spock's free hand and leading them to the sleeping area.

After that, it was easy to set Jim down on the large mattress and give him his own pacifier before letting Spock climb up into the bed and tucking them both in, where they curled around each other with soft nudges and giggles. When he sat down beside the edge of the mattress, PADD in hand, it was only a matter of time before the two of them dropped off into slumber as he read them to sleep. Jim still looked a little red in the face, likely because of his fever and the medicine beginning to dispel it, and Spock's own was light green, more so out of happiness than anything else. Their sessions always left him flushed with joy, something Leonard was sure to repeat as often as possible.

Once he was sure they were both asleep, breaths deep and rhythmic, he pulled the patchwork quilt at the foot of the bed up, tucking it up and over them. They nuzzled further into the mattress, snuffling quietly, and Leonard smiled, bending down and kissing both of their foreheads. He lingered on Jim's, wiping away the thin sheen of sweat that had sprung up on his skin and huffing out a laugh when the blond squirmed at the touched, burying his face in the pillow under his head. It was simple, after that, to dim the lights and exit the room.


End file.
